ABSTRACT
The poor stability of the ligustilide (LIG) makes its quantitation in Angelica sinensis (AS) difficult. This study establishes a chemical conversion method for the determination of ligustilide content in AS and proposes a national pharmacopoeia standard. Mechanical agitation and sonication of a powdered AS extract in a methanol/cyprolamine mixture facilitated the stabilization and transformation of ligustilide. Using an external reference HPLC-DAD method, the cyclopropyl-ligustilide (LIGc) content in the mixture could be determined. The content of ligustilide was greater than 1.0% based on 144 AS specimens including 68 obtained from the originally planted areas of Qinghai and Gansu Province; 55 specimens were obtained from Minxian and Weiyuan County medicine markets, and 21 specimens for which the storage period reached or exceeded 1.5 years. According to the Hong Kong Chinese materis medica standards, the content of ligustilide in AS should not be lower than 0.6%. The developed method could also be applied to the quality control of other Chinese medicinal materials (such as Ligusticum chuanxiong) or Chinese patent medicines in which ligustilide is the main component.
ABSTRACT
Primary processing of traditional Chinese medicinal materials (TCMM) is an important link which closely relates to the quality of products in TCMM. The traditional primary processing method and technology systems were derived from the long-term practices and experiences, which are distinctive, colorful, diverse, and scientific. The method of "sweating" is a critical step for processing the rhizome, root, cortex, and sclerotium and helpful for distributing moisture from inside to outside of TCMM in drying process, regulating and promoting the enzymatic reaction and chemical conversion by enzyme and germs, and starting or accelerating the biotransformation and chemical conversion of primary/secondary metabolites, which could directly affect the quality of TCMM. In this paper, the authors discuss the origins and development, purpose, and significance of "sweating" processing and the mechanisms of enzymatic reaction and chemical conversion of chemical compositions during the primary processing of "sweating". These data may provide the foundation and support for processing in normalization and standardization and formulating the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of primary processing of TCMM.